This show was webcast via LivePhish. After Roses Are Free, Trey gave a call-out to Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo (aka Gene and Dean Ween), encouraging them to get Ween back together. Trey teased For the Love of Money in It's Ice, Call to the Post at the end of Bathtub Gin, and DEG in Hood. Chalk Dust was unfinished.

Show Reviews

Set 1: A few folks have brought up that some of these songs were played sloppily, and some of them may not have been as tightly played as they ever have (Rift, for example), but for the most part the musicianship is tight and the final trio of tunes (fiery Wingsuit, funky It's Ice, and train-barreling-down-the-tracks Gin) render that mostly academic anyway. Also, they played Timber (Jerry), so consider me satisfied.

Set 2: The ever-versatile CDT, content to bring energy in its last appearance, gets the call as Set-Opening Jam Vehicle tonight, and the band lives up to the old sea shanty by slipping into a darker and more contemplative groove right out of the final verse, then moving to the major-key promised land as Mike does some fine work and Trey plays some very warm notes. They hit upon the same chord sequence as the Chicago Wedge (roughly), if somewhat less Pure Rock God-esque as that jam was, and Fish goes to the woodblock as Page switches to the electric piano and the jam begins to wind down.

Or, at least, it seems like it is, but then the tempo picks back up, Trey suddenly realizes he's playing a VERY familiar blues-rock lick, and in a now-you-see-me-now-you-don't moment Tweezer magically appears in an impressive segue. The usual Tweezer jam is a tightly coiled, churning affair, far more Spartan than the roaring Tweezers of old, and the band seems content to explore this space, as Trey finds a neat little riff to play around with. This jam is perfectly listenable on its own, especially to hear just how much Fish does even in his usual timekeeping role, but the real meat comes when Trey finds a remarkable three-note progression, Mike catches onto it, and the band snaps into one of those sequences that absolutely refuses to leave your head until you punch it out with repeated listens. Those kinds of sequences are exactly what I listen to this band for (among other things), and help make this Tweezer one of my premier jams of the year so far.

An always welcome Lizards comes up next, then Makisupa (which is amusing, if nothing else), then comes a powerful late-set Ghost that radiates intensity throughout (doesn't hurt when Trey cranks out Psycho Killer teases), and yet another lovely Hood that makes room for a DEG tease in the usual Hood jam. Tweezer Reprise and GTBT send everyone home in fine rockout style.

Final thoughts: Yet another contender for King of Summer 2015, a title already attracting as many suitors as the Iron Throne of Westeros. CDT -> Tweezer, in particular, is as strong a 1-2 punch as anything from Fall 2013 and demands listening.

It’s been said that writing about music is like dancing about architecture. I’ll do my best to address the show, but this is the first time in a long time that I really feel compelled to write about a venue – so, sans dancing, architecture it is.

Blossom is great place to see Phish. It’s like a ‘poor man’s’ Tanglewood. The shed is triangular, and as signs and symmetry inform so much of the band’s history, it strikes me as noteworthy. More important than this, however, is the wide open, comfortable atmosphere. I saw so many great parents with so many with cool young kids (my twins are still a bit tiny to attend shows) that you couldn’t help but smile; and when you literally saw some of the seven- and eight-year-olds getting down to Ice and Gin, you couldn’t help but feel great.

There has been a lot of discussion regarding song selection. Personally, I want to see the band cull from their vast catalogue – regularly.

Others say, ‘Chill out, the band loves the new songs, let them have fun.’

What I’ll say is this:

When the band is CLEARLY having fun playing ‘standard’ or ‘old’ songs, you are in for one great show.

And once upon a time these were new songs….

So, if you follow the logic, what does this suggest will happen to the new songs….? Are we seeing some evidence of this already?

Someone else said it best: it comes down to preparation. Expect a Mound soon.

The Show—

ASIHTOS opened things up – and a bit by surprise. People came running from the bathrooms to catch the band work through an inspired and tight opener. Something felt right – maybe it was all the energy from the little kids – but the audience was locked in. The applause was loud and contagious. This lead to a slew of long-awaited tour ‘bust outs:’ (My Sweet One, Wilson, Timber, and Roses – check out the Gene and Dene ‘shout out’; and perhaps a nod to rose throwing and the emergence of said flowers upon the lot/lawn?). The band was fired up; the crowd was fired up…. The energy kept building.

Rift – a welcome repeat – followed, and found Trey playing just fine; at least for the most part (I have to go back and re-listen). If you’re gonna chill out for a bit, a nice Moma Dance is welcome in this spot; more great playing, and a different sort of ‘cool down.’ Ginseng quickly reasserts the established (non-funky) energy, with a lot more smiling and dancing.

Wingsuit.

I really like the tune in this spot. I know many fans want to see a deeper dive come Set II – and in time this will happen …. Tonight was not the night.

If Fuego is a bit of a concept album, it was fun to contrast soarring Wingsuit with Set II’s ‘surprise’ (it had been checked in the afternoon, and has been teased a few times this summer) Lizard; it was great to enjoy both triumphant guitar parts in the same show.

Another bust-out of sorts with Ice – check out the ‘jam’ – which, again, was well played….

….and then a rousing, rocking Gin (with a Call to the Post, just in case were weren’t already ready for Set II.

Awesome.

(Insert what seemed like a long break; maybe I was just more excited than usual.)

I have been ‘advocating’ for different tunes to open Set II. There have simply been a lot of Dusts and Diseases. But when the band took the stage and Trey laid into CDT, I had no complaints: really, you could feel that they were driven. There has been some chatter that the band is city-hopping, and to their detriment. Perhaps they stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night, because they were rested, energized, inspired, and in total control.

People better at breaking down the music will better describe what ensues…. But check out the set list. The show was that good. After the Tweezer melting into the land of the Lizards, I was really curious what the band would go with. I was thinking Fuego.

Nope.

Again, another surprise: Makisupa. Last played 11/1/13, this version included some ‘different’ banter, and was a great choice. Moreover, true to the show, it had some great Cactus soloing and cool outro jamming.

The Ghost caught me by surprise, and the tune was just as passionate and fiery as the rest of the night’s playing.

Really, Hood was the only thing that could follow – and it did. Sticking to the ‘show,’ as opposed to recent trends (plus the band was up against the clock), this was a classic Hood. But it was great – complete with DEG-like jamming from Trey.

My friend and I were hoping they’d close the SET with reprise – such was the night’s energy. And of course they did.

This was great, as it left a bevy of encore options. It HAD to be a rocker, but which. We knew how much time was left. An original would have been fantastic, but GDBT was fiercely played and seemed fitting – both sonically and ….

I’d write more about the music, but check it out for yourself. It really is a fine show. I’m not saying where it rates or why; it really was just a great time.

Asides:

People were really into Kuroda’s lights. Of course they always are, but some of his visuals garnered huge, uncharacteristic cheers.

It literally took me two days to recover enough from this weekend to make a decent review. Blossom isn't only my first Phish show, but my first concert EVER, and I must say, several barns had been scorched to the ground this night.

I missed the first couple of minutes of A Song but as I walked to my seat and looked down on the band I immediately started having heart palpitations. I knew from that moment this was going to be the show of shows.

From My Sweet One on, my body just couldn't stop moving. even though halfway through Roses I started getting woozy, I was still dancing in my seat. Then IT happened. It was during Bathtub Gin. When Trey started ripping those cords like a crazed cat trapped in a yarn maze, I felt it in my bones, muscles, mind and face. Oh yeah, I had an EPIC face melt during Gin. I felt my eyes mist. It was quite lovely. Favorite Gin by far.

By set break, my partner in crime and fellow dot netter suggested I move to the lawn. I should mention we were at the back of the pavilion, dead center. Perfect view of Trey and the gang. I could kick myself for feeling sick and having to move. But the lawn view wasn't bad at all, despite being all the way in the back at the top of the hill. I truly got my groove on once CDT started playing. Tweezer and the Reprise are two of my JAMS, and when both got played in the same set, I lost my mind. I never wooed so much in my life.

"Getting IT" during Gin was not the only highlight of the evening. The sense of oneness and comradery in the crowd completely blew me over. I have never in my life been somewhere where togetherness was a serious thing, and Blossom was dead serious in that aspect. I can dig it.

When you can only attend one show of a given tour, you go in either with an expectation that will almost never be met, or just happy that you get to go. In my younger and more cynical days, I was often the former. Now that I’m an old working stiff with a family, I just feel lucky to hear my favorite guys do their thing.

“What are you really hoping to hear?” is a question I was asked several times. I don’t know. Who cares? There are some songs I love and some songs I don’t. It doesn’t matter. I want the show to be good. I liked Kramer more than George, but episodes heavy on the Costanza storylines were still great.

So with that in mind, it would have taken something unprecedented for me to walk out of (the absolutely gorgeous) Blossom Music Center with anything other than a huge grin on my face, my bones vibrating like so many tuning forks. Still, this show was objectively great. Where it ranks in the pantheon of 3.0 Phish or among the other 1600+ shows is irrelevant. It does occupy that tier on which other outstanding efforts (especially of this era) are mentioned. Was the CDT -> Tweezer better than the Tahoe Tweezer? Would you rather have Toews or Stamkos? It doesn’t matter, they’re both incredible.

The first set was not without its flubs, and I got the feeling that during Tweezer they couldn’t quite work out which one of them was going to drive that beast into the Uncle Ebeneezer line and went round about a few more times than initially intended. This is about as disappointing as seeing someone pitch a no-hitter instead of a perfect game. And those first set flubs ranked somewhere between stubbing your toe and dropping a french fry between your couch cushions (which is to say that if you are going to get caught up on something so superficial you’re probably better off at a Mumford and Sons show).

And about those flubs - it occurs to me that they wouldn’t happen if this band wrote the kind of top-40 pabulum that I suspect most all of us avoid like we would a hornet’s nest. You’ll probably hear a perfect technical show from one of those factory-made, I-IV-V, pentatonic-only-soloing, 3:30-or-less outfits more often than not. I’d rather have my brain chemically altered by Phish. And to expect them to play It’s Ice with anything other than some minor scrapes is to live in unreality. Everyone knows that THEY don’t give a shit, and that they are able to recover from those stumbles in a measure or less is something amazing in itself.

This show was relentless. And it seems to me that, at this point, Phish is about about being a great rock ‘n roll band as they are being a great jam band. We got elements of both last night, delivered with overwhelming force.

August 7, 2015 - Cuyahoga Falls, OH --> Me and Matt Dog had pavs, house right. Set one started at 7:39 PM, catching some by surprise with an earth-shattering ASIHTOS opener. What followed was a face-melting scorcher of a first set, accompanied by the cool breezes and subtle energies of the region's temperate deciduous forests.

Highlights would have to include Timber (Jerry), a sick ass Moma Dance, and a filthy It's Ice, similarly focusing on the heady jams within the opener and closer songs. A sinister shred indeed.

Aisle opened up for set two, which always good so you can spread out and tap into that place. That place, you know what I'm talking about! Phatty Chalkdust (15 min) --> massive Tweezer (19 min) > The Lizards caused three heart attacks in the first ten rows. And by the time Ghost was hitting home, all faces were melted to the concrete floor and cleanup wouldn't even begin for another hour (at least).

I have a real time analyzer on my phone and whipped out the dB meter twice during the show, once at the end of Gin and again at the end of Tweez Reprise. Set one closer read 141 dB, pushing 142.3; set two 142 dB, pushing 143.6... Now keep in mind my iPhone may have inaccurately calculated by 30 dB or so (because it's a phone), but I thought this observation deserved a paragraph of its own...

I'll conclude these thoughts with a compliment of the venue: The grounds were rolling, exquisite. And a pleasant staff always increases the chances of a faithful return, money in hand. The shed itself has kind of an obelisk shape to it, increasing the chance of headyness and possible take off by at least 200%. All in all, a scorcher of a shed show, a down home Midwest show, and a deliverance of cataclysmic music of biblical proportion to thousands of joyous Phriends and Phamilies. And as Matt Dog has stated: "The shed is dope, but we're going to need a bigger boat.."

Honestly, this is the show I've been waiting for since their return. I'm not fluffing here...this show was almost like a portal back to the 90's, but with the strange sense of like when someone says "if only I could go back with what I know now." I've been waiting for Phish to regain that mature improvisational sensitivity to leaving space and letting jams grow off of lyrical melodies with themes that ebb and flow. There were beautiful examples of this throughout the night, but most notably with what the Chalkdust jam became. Soaring, epic, blissful euphoria that really came together in the way that I love Phish for...where I'm left jaw-dropped, and I realize that I've almost completely stopped moving and am just listening amazed. I said to myself, "I can't believe what I'm hearing," and no other band brings me to this places like Phish.

What a fantastic show!... Total old school second set ... The Chalk>Tweezer>Lizards is an instant classic! (My first Lizards! I've been chasing since '98) ... Great weather, great venue, first set was stellar with 6 new tunes to the tour... If you don't like this show as a Phish fan then you might as well start following another band!! My only show on this tour so it doesn't get much better! I hope the guys from Ween likes it too and are inspired to get the band back together... Thanks Phish!

Not sure how you phanners fared approaching the venue from the east on West Steels Corners, but I can report that approaching from the west, I ran into 0 traffic. I am not exaggerating, as I pulled up to the Blossom Music Center entrance there were no cars in front of me.

We navigated the winding makeshift one-way road into the venue in the left lane which put us in “Lot B” (I think)…a short walk over the bridge and viola(!), we were inside.

A quick analysis of the crowd size and limited exit points led me and my old-man cohorts to determine an ‘early exit’ was in order to provide the best opportunity to expedite our departure. To be fair, we were driving back to Pittsburgh after the show, so trying to escape traffic as quickly as possible was pretty high on the priority list.

As I settled into my piece of grass I quickly made observations re: the state of Phish fandom (this being my first show since Coventry): w00ks may be on the endangered species list, there are significantly more attractive women attending the live performances of the greatest band of all times (which makes me happy), and the paranoia about recreational drug use is at an all-time low. Points 1 and 2 are likely related. Was the white-guy/girl-with-dreads/patchwork/etc a 90’s thing, or maybe just not a NE Ohio thing?

Nevertheless, watching the crowd became far more entertaining than the first ¾ of the first set. Now, don’t get me wrong, I was supremely excited to be attending my first Phish concert in over a decade, but the majority of the first set was by-the-books.

Well, I wish I could say that it was actually by the “books”, but Trey forgot how to play Rift. Seriously, the ass-whipping solo after Page’s solo is why Rift is a song in the first place. I thought to myself: “why play this song if you are not prepared to play this song?” I’m not one to get overly annoyed/hung up on flubs at my increasingly advanced age, but why not just shelve the fucking song if you can’t play it how it was written and try something different (LIMB BY LIMB, for example)?

My recommendation if you are wondering about this show: skip to It’s Ice and start there, because that is basically what the band did. If you enjoy Roses are Free and want to hear Trey plead with Dean and Gene to get the band back together, then check that out.

Anyway, back to It’s Ice. The jam is where this show finally received a tail-wind. I was able to overlook the band’s lack of precision in playing songs from their second-best album (Billy Breathes = #1), and this Ice got me moving. Trey going to the Mutron and Page on the Clav made for a limited, if not interesting jam.

The Gin that followed, while not exactly my cup of tea, blew the roof off of the place. Tremendous energy was transferred from the band, to the crowd, who gave it right back, and that led to Trey doing things I have rarely, if ever, heard him do in Gin. It was a beautiful and high energy close to a very pedestrian first set.

Set break was enjoyable. For example, I was able to get a close up of the blonde who was really getting down during the first set, and thought about giving her a Jeremiah Johnson-esque nod of approval, but decided that it would be less creepy (read: far creepier) to state my appreciation for her moves somewhat anonymously via the interwebs.

Also, props to my middle-aged neighbor who seemingly inhaled more cannabis vapor during set I than he did oxygen.

Chalk Dust came ripping out of the gates and I just assumed “here we go boys”. I was a bit perturbed when the jam was wrapping up in ‘standard’ fashion, all the way to Fish doing his drumming thing right before the song concludes, but that's when Trey said: “hell to the fuck no”…and things just took off from there. I closed my eyes and let the music do what it wanted to me. What is most prescient is the way the jam seamlessly progressed to the “Paradise City”/”Roll with the Changes” portion. I made note of the latter and was vocally appreciative of the progress with several “woo’s” (no Tahoe Tweezer) and “FUCK YEA’S” and “oh maaaannnn’s” during this segment.

Eventually the jam morphed (excuse me for being fuzzy on details, this is from memory), quite well, mind you, into Tweezer, which I received with fist pumps and more expletives. While many Tweezers in recent years have gone 'major mode', this one did no such thing. In fact, if you can find a more bleak, desolate, dark, and brooding Tweezer in the entire Phish catalog, I dare you to point it out to me. This wasn’t flaming hot magma ‘dark’ Tweezer jamming ala 12-2-95, no, this was the Mutron to Hades edition. This was some bleak shit. For a band that has weaved through varying levels of personal darkness, on several occasions to get their lives back on track, this was a stark and welcome departure from ‘happy/bliss jamming’.

For the record: I love this Tweezer. This may not be “hear at all costs, 10.0” on the Dirksen scale, but it is unique and will entrance you if you have any sort of darkness residing in your soul (guilty).

On the drive to the show my buddy Matt said in response to my query of “any songs you are looking for tonight?” “I’d really like to hear Lizards”. He received a back-hand slap across the shoulder and a celebratory smile when the opening notes started emanating from the stage. Side note: thank fucking (enter deity here) they didn’t go into Shade. Very strong rendition of The Lizards here. It’s like a different god damn band was playing this second set.

Makispua came next and Matt proclaimed “this was second on my list!”. I enjoyed more employment of the Mutron in unusual places (Makisupa jam), and the transition into Ghost (which I was audibly calling for late in the Tweezer jam).

Ghost saw more of the Trey-centric rock star thing that I don’t really enjoy but everyone else seems to, before really (really) teasing with Psycho Killer. I thought for sure Trey was stepping to the mic and telling us that he can’t seem to face up to the facts.

Eventually my wish was not granted, but they did play Harry Hood. I was expecting the usual/unusual with Hood (after nearly 20 years I still haven’t learned to never have expectations at a Phish concert). This version was compact, ‘old-school’, and wholly average. It wasn’t bad, but it never really went to the transcendental places that many ‘normal’ mid-90’s Harry Hood’s went to. Alas, it was good, not great.

Tweezer Reprise was notable for how awesome of a song it is, Mike’s bass, and Trey bounding all over the fucking stage, hamming it up for the crowd.

We made our move for the gate a verse into GTBT, but were able to enjoy it on the way to the car.

For the record: we were able to exit the venue swiftly and returned to the ‘burgh prior to 2am…a win-win all around.

This was a good show (not great), though I do believe the second set will grace many ‘best of’ lists from this tour. I haven’t heard much else, but I can say with certainty that the Chalk Dust -> Tweezer was some top shelf 2015 Phish.

Last night, Phish delivered something that we haven't seen in a while. They managed to combine their current routine of excellently jamming out a few classic songs in their repertoire (I'm looking at Chalkdust, Tweezer, and Ghost) all while providing a show full of tour debuts and bust outs. For me, one of the best parts of going back and listening to shows that occurred in 2011 and 2012 isn't going back and listening to jams. Most of the jams from early 3.0 can't even touch what Phish does today. I go back and listen because the Phish song rotation didn't seem nearly as tight back then. It wasn't uncommon to have a song from "Exile On Mainstreet" show up or to have the song selection really change from the previous shows. Phish gave us the pleasure of hearing uncommon tunes last night while also doing some top level jamming.

Set one had a few highlights for me. We got the tour debuts of My Sweet One, Wilson, Timber (Jerry), Roses, Ginseng Sullivan, and It's Ice. Timber had a nice little jam on it, but was pretty normal for the Timber (Jerry)'s we get in 3.0. As far as Roses goes, it was really cool of Trey to give Ween a shout out and I hope Gene and Dean get back together. Ginseng was really fun to hear in this set because we don't get a ton of Phish-grass these days. It's Ice had a cool little jam. Trey did a good job of nailing most of the notes and was playing really cleanly. It even sounded like he tried to tease Ginseng sometime in between the third and fourth minute mark but abandoned the idea. It's Ice ended in a funky groove that the whole band seemed to be locked into, then we got a >Bathtub Gin. I think this Gin is definitely worth a listen. It's not a Riverport Gin or anything like that, but I certainly wouldn't sleep on it if I was listening to this show.

Set two opened with a Chalkdust that, I gotta admit, I have to re listen to. I wasn't being attentive enough to fully analyze it but it had some nice jamming. Towards the end of Chalkdust the jam got very riff based. This culminated into the awesome ->Tweezer. That segue was easily the highlight of the show for me. About seven minutes into this Tweezer there were only remnants of the original composition floating around. Trey seemed to get rid of this by throwing down a Timber (Jerry)-esque groove. This made the jam funk based until roughly the eleven minute mark. Things transitioned from funk to a very riff based jam. This eventually turned back into spacey funk, into an ascending riff, and finally, back into spacey-ness. It was out of this spacey-ness that the >Lizards emerged. It had it's usual jazziness and some sweet work from Trey and Page about two-thirds into the song. We were then treated to the always fun Makisupa followed by an awesome > into Ghost. The jam got going with Mike and Page making things spacey as Trey soloed and about six minutes in, it turned into a Chalkdust-like jam. This Chalkdust-like jam eventually went back into the classic Ghost composition and we got a little bit of Page action before the > into Harry Hood. The Hood was it's classic happy and uplifting self and we got the always triumphant "You Can Feel Good" ending. Finally the show ended with a >Tweeprise. For the encore we got another tour debut, Good Times Bad Times. It's hard to complain about a show that ends with this song. Everyone knows it and you get some Trey shredding.

I webcasted this show but it was so good that I felt compelled to share my thoughts. I don't ever really do this so that should tell you something about the awesomeness that occurred at Blossom last night.

This was my first Phish show. My lady and I scored Pit tickets and took our spot right in front of Page. I had no idea what to expect and these guys proceeded to blow me away. Every song was a winner. This was one of the best nights of my life. Thank you Trey, Fish, Mike, and Page. You gained a Phan that night. Keep Rockin

Unreal show. My first Phish show since 97 and they are still every bit as good. In some ways more mature and better. The CDT>Tweezer was excellent, and The Lizards was a great treat. Gin as a first set closer was solid, and Tweezer was so intense, especially the Reprise. Keep jammin guys.

Dear reader, my anonymous and invisible (but still pertinent) audience, I write this review with the benefit of hindsight. There are things I know now that, quite frankly, I did not know at the time of the concert that have proven most symbolic, or epiphany-like. I am writing (reflecting, really) about not necessarily the show itself, but of my experience in regards to the show, and of how much they mean to me. Like many great, or self-indulgent authors (not to say I, myself, am either of those), I take great pride in examining as many aspects of life that I can, picking away and analyzing every known detail. So here, reader, is my own account of what has proven to be a most prosperous memory.

Before I get too far in, I'd like to address one theme that can be taken from this essay on the difference between "knowing" and "realizing." Up until this concert in particular, I "knew" what a great community we have, and I "knew" (or "know") that Life has its own ebb-and-flow current, but I did not "realize" these facts until the afternoon and evening of August 7, 2015.

I am now backtracking a few months in early June when I ask my father and brother (who've seen 2 and 3 shows, respectively), and a very good friend (who has never seen Phish) if she would like to see Phish with me. All respond with a very definitive "yes," which brings me great joy. Nearly a quarter of a year later, with tickets purchased and adrenaline flowing through veins and neural pathways, we all hop on the turnpike to head toward beautiful Blossom Music Center, eager with isostatic anticipation and light-headed, dreaming up all the possibilities that could happen at a Phish show. It is around here that we encounter what I will call Omen 1. This was me, stupidly forgetting the tickets on the coffee table at home. Not just five minutes later, we encounter Omen 2. Omen 2 is a much more monstrous and ugly omen than Omen 1. This particular omen took the form of an RV camper which has been charred to a crisp on the right-shoulder lane of the turnpike. Omen 1 suddenly feels much more like an "inconvenience" than Omen 2, even though, to my perspective of life until that point, Omen 1 was the end of the world. If it makes a difference, Omen 2 could have been much, much worse. We can see what are presumably the owner(s) and family of said owner(s) of the RV camper on the side of the road, talking to police.

Still, we are able to turn around and head home to grab the tickets that were eagerly, and blindly forgotten by me so as to reverse the damage done by Omen 1. Unfortunately, time, or at least in our dimension, is irreversible, so the aftermath of Omen 1 remains. Still, I feel guilt over Omen 1 as it was my friend's first show, and now we are going to be late, missing anywhere between 30-60 minutes of music, but still, I feel reassurance in simply surrendering to the flow, and dealing with the consequences of my inaction. When we finally do make it to the venue, "Rift" is heard playing from the parking lot, so we were not too late, which further brought my spirits up. By the time we found our space on the lawn, "Moma Dance" had reared its funky head in. I knew then that we had not missed too much of the show.
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--Forgive me, I need to go to work. I'll try my best to resume this review in the style its currently written in after work.--
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--I essentially passed out after work, and am continuing this review the next day after initially starting it. I was on a roll too.--

The rest of the first set didn't really stand out too much, save for an old-school "It's Ice" with a funk breakdown (this is just an aside, but a lot of people are complaining about the flubs in the first set, and honestly, I can't hear that many flubs. With songs like "Ice," you should expect some mistakes every so often because it's a difficult song in their repertoire. I think sometimes we need to loosen our ears and our definition of "flub," because the "flubs" are sparse). The "Bathtub Gin" closer was something else entirely, not like the legendary "Gin's" (7/29/98, 6/28/00), but also not like the standard "build-to-a-peak" Gin's either. Trey and Jon bring the music and the climaxes up, and the crowd gets down. It is here where I think my friend finally gets IT, as I explain to her that the jam is actually not technically part of the song itself, but is actually merely using the song as a medium through which their creativity and impulses can take place, and where magic henceforth happens (in other words, I explained to her what a "jam" means for Phish). She "knew" what Phish does, but I think it is here, and most certainly by Set 2, where she "realized" what Phish does.

Set 2 sets the stage for another event, something I will call Omen 3. Omen 3 is a tall and staggering black fan who is being carried by two friends (or passersby) as he can hardly carry himself. From an outside perspective, it appears as though he had taken too much of "something," or was dehydrated, or maybe a little of both (or something else entirely). These two men carrying him brought him to two police officers, or venue security, and left his fate in the hands of two unfamiliar, and oft-touted people, where they bottle-fed the man water, checked his pulse, shined a light in his pupils, and, despite him fighting back with his I-don't-know-what's-happening-right-now-reflexes (albeit with as little energy as he could muster), the guards safely restrained the man so he did not fall over and hit his head on the ground. Eventually the guards flagged down a, what I assume to be, medic cart where he was driven away, never to return to my peripheral vision for the rest of the show.

All of the events of the previous paragraph started as soon as Chalk Dust Torture started, and ended not long after the final refrain (before the jam). The rest of the set is well recorded amongst the usual set of reviewers, and I can assure you, I'd echo them, but I don't want to waste anymore space (as if I didn't waste enough already, but seriously, in layman's terms, CDT>Tweezer>Lizards is money). This show, and in turn, this review, is more important to me because of my own various realizations, hence why there was less focus on the music, and more focus on my various epiphanies. But I digress; on August 7, 2015, I experienced: forgiveness from family and friends of an embarrassing blunder on my part, firefighters tending to a charred vehicle and a family thankful and blessed to have each other, and normal, everyday citizens helping a man in need, and then police officers more concerned with said man's safety rather than making arrests. Suffice to say the "Good Times, Bad Times" encore cemented my realizations that night.

A Phish show is no different than any other part of life in that there still exists the potential for bad things to happen, despite our "escapism" in these shows (as quoted by Trey from the IT documentary). But it is in these bad things and how people react to them that proves that for each potential bad event, there is equal potential for a good outcome. When Life threw its chips down, everybody acted as though they were holding a royal flush, and I am proud, humbled, and blessed to be a part of this community, just as I am honored, and likewise, glad to have brought a few friends along for the ride.

I must stop now, as I think my point has been made. I hope this description of my experiences leading up to, and during the show does the real experience justice, but honestly I don't think it does. Something hit me that fateful night that will likely change my outlook on life for the foreseeable future. We all "know" that Phish shows are events themselves, but on August 7, 2015, I had my own "realization" of this fact. Please be kind, and I hope you enjoyed reading my review as much as I enjoyed writing it. It should go without saying that I hope you enjoy the rest of tour as well.

Peace and good sounds, and as always, thank you fans, and Phish.
-Pinhead Larry

One of the best shows I've seen. I am admittedly not as experienced a Phisherman as most of you, but I know music inside and out and my brother is a huge head so I learn a lot from him. The playing was above-average at Blossom and the energy level was super high. Just a cool show all around. My favorite tune?.... The Lizards was super fun to hear again but that Hood jam was sick. Thanks for listening

For me, this whole show rests on the second set. The first was fine Phish, don't get me wrong. I finally got my first Wilson, so that was a nice relief.
But that second set....
Wait. Let's back up a second.
A good friend of mine (Sally Pop) decided to make this her first Phish show. It's only my third, so I was trying to explain how seeing them live just can't be put into words. From talking to other phans, my first experience (Burgettstown 2012) was a killer way to join in the Phish live experience. After seeing Night 2 at Mann Crnter last year, I understood the difference between a great Phish show and a good Phish show. Mann seemed to be lacking a certain OOMPH that was palpable at Star Lake.
...which brings me back to this second set.
Called the CDT opener, but going into Tweezer AND Lizards was something else. Three shows, and I've seen Lizards twice.
Yes. I know I'm spoiled. Sorry.
The rest of the set was excellent, and can't really pop out any unique memories... other than the lights at the start of Tweeprise. That riff. That groove. Those lights. That moment in time. Never can be reproduced.
Helps that it was my first Tweezer and Tweeprise, but still...
Damn. Just blew our hair off. Some of the most violently enthusiastic soul dancing I've ever been apart of. Just sheer pure exstacy.
Sally never knew Phish had GTBT in their bag of tricks, and I've never seen them play it, so you could not wrap this show up in any better manner.
Needless to say, Sally is a convert. We weren't 10 minutes out of the lot before she was googling where their next show was and seeing how soon we would have to wait before seeing them again.
Post show bonus was not waiting to get out of the lot (a Blossom first for me) and some hot tub and beer relaxation time after....
But that's a different story. Can't wait to have the time to relisten to this soon, but I think tonight will end up with me on my couch watching the Live Stream from YouTube.

First off, I have never felt compelled to write a show review and post it. But this show was really special... I mean really special, so here you have my thoughts.

Blossom is one of my all time favorite venues. It is positively gorgeous, acoustically wonderful, and friendly as anything. The last two times I was here, Jerry & the Boys pulled out Cryptical and Mr. Fantasy. Like I said, a personal fav. And the surrounding Cuyahoga Valley National Park is an amazing backdrop to the festivities. Do yourself a favor and catch a show here.

Anyway, having followed the couch tour prior to Blossom, I caught the jams at Atlanta, the recital in Alabama, and the dance shows in Nashville and Starlight (another of my all time favorite venues)... so I figure that we might just be looking at a killer show. I had no absolutely idea what was in store, and just how good this show would be.

Set 1 started strangely with a dark, moody Ocean. It was short but a breath of fresh air as an opener. Then the band seemed (to me) to try to find a groove... a short My Sweet One and a super short Wilson. 20 minutes in and already 3 songs... I wasn't too enthusiastic. But Timber was the first song to find a groove. Not a killer, but certainly a strong performance. Then came Roses... and a good Roses at that with a shout to Ween. Very tasty... maybe we were gonna get there.

Next came a very average Rift and I thought we were back to a very average show. But it was the filthy funk from Page in Moma Dance that started to break this show loose. It's not super long, but they crushed it. Ginseng Sullivan drove the crowd crazy and everybody danced around. Wingsuit was fine (I'm not a huge fan), but It's Ice started to really get out there. We were swirling by the end of that jam. I figured it was the set closer so I was shocked when we got a huge Gin. I walked off to the bathroom with everyone else asking "what the hell just happened?"

Set 2 started off with a rollicking CDT, and it seemed that it would wrap up at the 6:00 mark or so... but then came the jam. This was gorgeous... swirling and melodic and flawlessly leading to a monster Tweezer. This was an old school Tweezer. 20 minutes of melt your face Tweezer. Set 2 was seriously cranking.

When the band brought it down at 15 minutes and started to noodle away, the whole crowd exploded... we got Lizards! And it was a beautiful, light, airy Lizards. The night was a success... I was happy I made the drive. But wait...

Makisupa was a super, much needed, "let's catch our breath" song. And then, late in the second set, Ghost! And it was a really good Ghost. I suddenly realized that I was at a serious monster show. They were crushing it!

Into Harry Hood... a wonderful, peak filled Hood. A rip your face off Hood. It just couldn't get better, could it? Yes it could! TWEEPRISE... WOOHOO!

GTBT was a great cap to a stellar night. This is the single best 3.0 show I've ever witnessed... hell, it was right up there with some of the 1.0 shows. It was a classic for the ages. I walked out saying (as were many others), "Did I just see what I think I saw?" The soundboards confirmed it!

Do yourself a huge favor and listen to this show. And for those others of you who were there... SMILE, SMILE, SMILE!

Settling into this show I was convinced they were going to play gamehendge. I mean, they hadn't played one song from it the whole tour. Not one. Go back and check. Not even an ACDC. And they sound checked lizards! Then they played Wilson! And my theory was crushed!

But they played Lizards, so that was cool.

Highlight of this show was the true segue from chalk dust to tweezer. It was smooth as silk, deserving of being compared to some of the great segues of all time (the wolfman's->boogie on comes to mind). The tweezer jam got very dark and then quiet. You could hear them searching for the direction before they entered the puddle and Lizards crawled out. Very satisfying.

Again, my yardstick for measuring shows now is "are they trying?" With summer 2015 thus far, the answer more often than not has been "yes!" And for that we can all be thankful. Big weekend coming up. Have fun out there. We'll be holding down the couch for you.

Great Review for a great show. I do believe that Cross Eyed and Painless was teased in Timber. What do you think? It's just about 18 minutes in. Take a look and let me know what you think. It's practically one line of the jam but I believe Trey wanted to do about two lines of it but he hit a wrong note at first.

This is my first time writing a "Review" for a show on here. I wasn't in attendance and watched this one via couch tour. With that being said, I think this was a really solid show from the opener to the encore. The energy at the end of set one's Bathtub Gin felt more like the end of a second set. I rated the show a 4/5 from the couch, if in attendance to feel the vibe I'm sure I would have said it was a 5/5. Great show at a classic venue!

We're right around the halfway mark of the Summer 2015 tour and the band is playing at an incredibly high level. Their energy, song selection and playing is leaving the crowds stoked night after night with them consistently raising the bar of what is to be expected on any given night.

With Magnaball and three nights at Dick's finishing up the summer of 2015, I can't help to think the best is still yet to come. That's kind of a sick thought! If the tour were to end after this weekend's shows at Alpine, I think there were enough gems already thrown down to call Summer 2015 one of the better tours in the 3.0 era.

Not much of a review of the show I guess but I felt the need to memorialize my thoughts and more importantly my THANKS that the band is playing at such a high level and seem to be having fun show after show.

as soon as ASIHTOS started things off, i knew we were gonna get some jams!

i remember for the wilson peak (can u still have fun?) a girl jumped right in front of me and screamed the line in my face at the same time i was singing it. she came outta fucking nowhere! then she ran away screaming the remainder of the lyrics at other people as she went.

After years of listening to and collecting Phish shows I was finally able to push life responsibilities aside and attend a show for the first time in what is essentially my backyard. Blossom is an amazing venue.

To my ears the first set sounded a little bit off, while this might have been due to my expectations going into my first show, on re-listening it definitely sounds like something was amiss. If my memory serves me correctly Trey kept looking off-stage in what appeared to be annoyance with equipment, and there was a lot of discussion between songs in the first set. I'm all for collaboration and figuring things out on the fly, but the pause between Moma Dance and Ginseng Sullivan felt odd and unnatural, with Mike seeming to launch into Ginseng on his own. That being said there was some great playing here, Timber, Roses, and Gin being the highlights for me.

Everything needed to be said about the second set has already been said, any misgivings I had about the first set were wiped away immediately. My companion at the show was not a Phish fan, and after this show she still wasn't, but after the second set she said something along the lines of, "I don't like the music that much, but they sure can play their instruments well." I'll take it.

The scene was something else, I walked away from the merch stand with a not so positive feeling about humanity, people getting combative about who gets to buy their tshirt/poster first was pretty intense. The good vibes certainly outweighed the bad when all was said and done, but I was definitely reminded why I listened and enjoyed for so long at home with headphones.

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